tassie is the nfld of oz

on sat night, we flew into hobart on the se coast. hobart is the cap city of tas and 2nd-oldest city in oz. cute little city on the water. cold here! went for nice meal of fresh fish on harbour front. and
coffees at nice cafe at harbour next morning. and a chilly morning at that!

picked up hired car at 10.30 and strated drive north to coles bay, gateway to freycinet national park. was a varied drive thru framland, forest, and along the coast. i'm surprised at the amount of farmland here - didn't expect it at all.

coles bay is pretty little town on the water and the first plastic bag-free town in oz =). lucked into an awesome cottage near the water. had a jacuzzi tub! haha. luxury. drove into national park for evening walk around lighthouse track and then sleepy bay track. white-bellied sea eagle here!!! rounded out the evening relaxing in our own little home with wine, meet the fockers, and a game of monopoly.

next day did awesome hike in freycinet nat`l park - gorgeous 12-km circuit in to wineglass bay and hazards beach. wow. trail thru endemic silvertree peppermint (Eucalyptus sp.) forest, rocky outcrops, to gorgeous white sandy beaches, thru rainforest, marshland, and along coast. mom says it`s the nicest hike she's ever done. saw bennett`s wallabies! and mara and i got some good birds. yellow-throated honeyeater! and mara spotted a red-bellied black snake in front of me while i was looking up at birds. it's venomous and very pretty.

eft early next morning for 5-hr drive west to strahan and gordon river national park. midlands of tas all rural farmland, much like new zealansd. closer to strahan drove thru windy and mountainous state forest parks. rained most of the day. pretty rainforest, but queasy drive toward the end. i was ill by the time we got to strahan. spent night in huge 2-bdrm house.

next day drove 4 hr northeast thru cradle mountain national park to launceston to catch our flight to canberra. nice mountainous drive, then along coastline eastward to launceston. stayed at 'the stables', circa 1838; our room was a converted horse stable. so cool. early morning flight to canberra, the capital of the country.

photo 1 is wineglass bay, freycinet nat'l park

photo 2 is us at wineglass bay beach

photo 3 is red-bellied black snake

t

we love melbourne

of the cities we've been to in oz so far, melb is definitely the coolest. at first glance, it seemed like the others (high rises, suits, kinda dirty streets, etc), but after a day here we realized why all other travelers (and aussies, too) raved about melb.

lots of nice green space, trendy and hip people, and hundreds of cafes, restaurants, and nice bars in little alley ways throughout the CBD. cool arts and music scene, and the food is fabulous. reminds me a lot of montreal, actually. we all said we could live in melb for sure.

state lib in melbourne is gorgeous inside. like a museum/art gallery. e and m caught free trolley to meet me there on thur; it broke down en route. ha!

spent a few days hanging out with rachelle, our fun friend from calgary that we met in new zealand (a teacher in melb on a 2-yr working holiday visa). i went shopping, to st kilda beach, and the botanics with r. great bamboo garden here. e and m visited melb jail where ned kelly (aussie bush ranger who hid from the law and an icon in oz) was hanged.

m and i caught the train to toorak to meet rachelle for dinner at BYO thai resto, while e and mom went to a production of mamma mia!

on friday night, we 3 girls went to a footy (rugby) game (there are 3 leagues in oz)! st kilda saints vs western bulldogs at etihad stadium. lots of excited fans (i.e., frighteningly passionate bogans. ha!). didn't understand a thing, but the energy and beer were fun. left at half-time to meet rachelle and friends at the emerald peacock bar downtown. some dude hit on mara with the following exchange:

dude: hi. how are you?

mara: i'm well! how are you?

dude: i'm awesome. actually, if i was any more awesome, it would be illegal.

turns out that nearly-illegal dude had earlier in the eve told rachelle et al that he was roasting warm under the heatlamp and his breasts were like rotisserie chicken. HA! wow.

saturday was beginning of melb jazz fest, so met rachelle, jeanie, mike at the cool transport bar overlooking the river and near anzac square for free jazz concert. was also international zombie day. hundreds of people dressed as zombies and zombie hunters all over the city. hot day in the sun!

we left melb on sat eve to fly to tasmania. been wanting to go to taz since i was a kid. very excited!!

1st photo: clothing store doorway on flinders st

2nd photo: us with mike, rach, jeanie at jazz fest

3rd photo: creepy entry to luna park, st kilda beach

on the great ocean road, sans kerouac

i read kerouac's "on the road" a few weeks ago. hence the post title =).

after a fabulous 2-night stay, we left hall's gap for Port Fairy along the coast. arrived just after lunch to learn there was a mixup in the dates and we weren't booked in to the p fairy hostel. so continued on to the town of warrnambool (say WAR-num-bool), the official gateway to the Great Ocean Road. managed to find a room near the beach, and the 3 daughters went into town to get coffees. instead ended up at the pub for beers. ha! cooked dinner at the hostel, mom and i stayed in while e and m hit the town. verdict is that bars in warrnambool are sketch. bar #1 - equivalent to the padernac in corner brook. bar #2 - irish pub w/o irish music but full of young slinky/skanky things. bar #3 - death metal bar. bar #4 - dance bar full of really young, drunk warnamboolians...not quite e's and m's scene. but they got their cover paid by some old dude. yay old dude!

next day started the great ocean road drive toward apollo bay. we stopped at a number of

gorgeous sites, incl the bay of islands, the grotto, loch ard gorge, london arch, the 12 apostles (which are now 6), and gibson's steps. all beautiful and expansive sandstone cliffs, large swaths of beach, and awesome surf. but chilly and so so windy! got lots of wicked photos.

ended today's drive with a jaunt out to cape otway to look for koalas in the wild - and success!! saw 4 koalas! mom's highlight of the trip for sure.

in apollo bay, mom decided she was tired of hostels and wanted a bath tub and luxury. so we splurged on a really nice apartment-style hotel room with two floors, big bath, and seinfeld on tele! apollo bay is a gorgeous little tourist surf town, kinda like jasper or banff. one strip down the beachway was full of cafes, bars, and restaurants.

next day m and i went birding early, then we all explored town. it was mom's bday and so we went to great otway natl park to do the little aire falls hike. a gorgeous walk thru beauty tree fern and beech rainforest. wicked fungi everywhere! great way to spend a birthday. it was also anzac (aus-new zealand army corps) day, a nat'l holiday commemorating lives lost in all wars. saw the anzac parade march thru town. went for bday dinner at nice seafood/b.y.o. wine resto.

next morn i got up early, and drove along coast to watch early morning surfers. then all carried on eastward to lorne, antoher surfing town along the coast, similar to apollo bay. stayed in our own little trailer in a park by the river. e and m took afternoon drive to dean's marsh and winchelsea, which were crap towns. ha!

next day we drove to queenscliff, a village about 2 hr south of melbourne. it was cute, but mara hated it. haha. drove to geelong, a larger centre nearby to go to subway for dinner. haha.

next stop - melbourne!

1st photo is at the grotto along the g.o.r.

2nd photo is me, mara, mom at loch ard gorge

3rd photo is erin and a koala on otway penin

4th photo is mom hikin thru great otway natl park

t

finally some forest!

April 21

We decided to check out Grampians National Park. From Robe, we did a very scenic and windy drive to Halls Gap. Tina was very happy to finally be driving through forests. The YHA in Halls Gap was eco-friendly and very impressive. We did a walk to the Pinnacle, which was beautiful. The nealy 3 hour return walk took us through lovely forests and impressive rock formations until we reached the summit. At the top, you walked out to the edge of an overhang that was fenced off....we even got mom to walk a quarter of the way out.

From the view, we had a fabulous view of the lake, forest and mountains. There were a couple of ravens at the top that managed to steal our trail mix while we were attempting to get a group shot!

Halls Gap is also known for the kangaroos that always come out into the town at dusk and dawn to feed. We went to the baseball field at dusk to find 30-40 kangaroos there!

After two nights in Halls Gap, we decided to move on to begin our journey on the Great Ocean Road!

first photo is us at the top of the pinnacle hike, grampians natl park

2nd photo is all of the kangaroos in the soccer pitch in town

adelaide is just kinda radelaide

adelaide is like a bigger version of deer lake, according to erin. ha! most aussies say that you only pass thru adel on your way to elsewhere. it was alright, but nothing special. the torrens river runs thru town, which offered great photo ops, walking trails, and good birding.

in kitchen at our hostel, ran into adi from israel that erin and i met 5 weeks ago in new zealand! she was super happy to see us b/c she's traveling alone. mara and i spent the day with her. went to scanty sunday market, the gorgeous botanics, and rundle mall.

been tired of eating and getting little exercise for a while now; can't exactly get the heart rate up in flip flops (aka thongs in oz) or blundies, so i dropped $180 on a rad pair of asics tigers. yay new kicks! walked around river and to north adelaide, which has nice neighbourhoods and good views of the city. here's to getting into an exercise routine...

after 2 nights in adel, we hired a car for 9 days to drive east to melbourne. first day drove a few hours south to port elliot, a pretty little town on the ocean. our hostel there was a newly-renovated country house. the nicest one we've stayed in yet. wooden interior, fireplace, new kitchen and utetnsiils! and a beauty garden out back.

next morning detoured to see mouth of the murray river and hindmarsh island. good birds there! continued on thru coorong national park with beautiful sandy beaches and globally important shorebird habitat.

spent 2nd night in robe, which everyone told us we should be sure to visit. and we have no idea why. nothing there! bares bones nothing. good thing we arrived late. early next morning, i birded around sand dunes and mallee scrub of little dip conservation area just outside town. beautiful firetail here!!! left at 10.00 to head inland to hall's gap and grampians national park, where kangaroos apparently hang out in the middle of town. mom's looking fwd to that!

1st photo is wombat crossing sign in southern aus

2nd photo is paddle boats on the river torrens in adelaide

wine in the west

We left Alice Springs and flew to Perth, Western Australia. We landed early afternoon on a beautiful day. We took about a 20 minute train ride to Cottlesloe beach, where we lay in the sun for the afternoon.

The next day, we explored the city centre a little, walking around all the little shops. Tina and Mara toured the botanical gardens. Mom and I met Marie's (mom's sister) friend in the botanical gardens. Sue gave us lots of tips about travelling Australia. We had lunch in the gardens and then did a treetop walk, which gave a beautiful view of the city and the rivers on which it lies.

That evening, we went to Sorrento, a very nice Italian restaurant...the first time Tina and I spurlged on a meal! Mara and I went to the Belgian Beer Cafe to taste some beers. We met up with a couple of guys from B.C. and a couple from France. They took us to a couple of bars in Northbridge, which apparently is the place to go out in Perth. We went to the Brass Monkey, which was quite dead. The bouncers are very strict about not letting drunk people in the bars and we were questioned about how much we already had to drink. We then went to the Wheel Barrow, which was not as strict about their entry criteria! Although they did require a piece of ID and took your photo before you entered. Twenty minutes was time enough in that place :)

The next day we got the train to Fremantle, a suburb of Perth, where Perth originally started. Fremantle is known for its market so we took some time to explore it. Fremantle also has a street with an abundance of cafes and is known as "Cappuccino Strip". We explored the market and the town.

We took a 2 hour bus ride to Margaret River, south of Perth on April 12. We were ready to settle in one spot for a few nights so chose this nice little town. We did many tours of the tiny town and it's main strip. It rained a lot when we were there!

We decided to do a wine tour since Margaret River is quickly becoming a popular wine region, termed the next Bordeaux. We chose Margaret River Tours. We got picked up 9:00 am by our tour guide, Jim. There were 7 other people on our tour. We went to six wineries: Stella Bella, Leeuwin, Voyager, Watershed, Pierro, and Moss Brothers. We had a wonderful lunch at the dining room in Voyager. Our favorite wines were from Stella Bella. After the wine tastings, we went to a chocolate factory and then a cheese factory for tastings...yum. We met Jim later for supper at Settlers, the local pub. It was declicious and we tried lots of different Australian beer. Jim told lots of jokes, our favorite being, "Why does the Avon lady walk funny?" After the bar closed (12:00!), we went back to Jim's house for a few drinks. Antony, a guy who works at a winery also came with us.

Our final day in Margaret River was spent relaxing, exploring the town once again. In the evening, Mara and I played a board game, Settlers of Catan, with a couple me met from Europe. Fun game! We headed back to Perth for a night before getting ready to catch our flight to Adelaide....bound for South Australia!

first pic is of perth on the swan river

second is a sign on surfing beach

third is half full cow on wine tasting in margaret riv

erin